Paul POV

I wasn't sure how long she was going to sit there, just staring out the windshield, looking like she was in shock.

Maybe she was in shock. It would be a pretty human reaction. In a short period of time she had found out I was a werewolf, vampires existed, and not only was there such a thing as imprints, but she was one. She was mine.

I could understand there had to be a tipping point somewhere, where all of this was too much to handle.

She didn't seem scared or angry. Just surprised and quiet. I wasn't sure if I should say anything, or do anything. But I also knew, she was probably expected home at some point, so we couldn't sit there forever. No matter how much I wanted to.

Though this might have been a negative shock for her, for me today had been pretty great. I didn't lose my temper for once, and Ripley knew everything. Even though I was worried about her reaction, the weight of it was off. Plus, she hadn't hit me or screamed. That was a bonus.

Maybe this could work. Maybe I could be what she needed. Maybe she could accept what I was. It didn't have to end badly.

"So soul mates." She said suddenly, still staring off into space.

"Yep that's us." I responded and fidgeted with the steering wheel.

"Hmmm. How long have you known?"

"First time I saw you, when I reacted weirdly. That was me imprinting."

"I guess I missed the flutes and harp music announcing the occasion."

"It doesn't work like that; it's more of a serious affair."

Now she turned to me. "I was joking."

"As was I." I looked back at her. "So what now?"

"I don't know. I can't say I never thought about us that way before. It's always been a little fantasy there. But I don't know you like that. I know you as my buddy."

"Firstly, there's no rule that says we have to be together. I don't want you feeling pressured into anything, just because of the term soul mates. That just means we have a very strong connection. A bond no one and nothing can touch. We already knew that. The imprint means I'll be whatever you want and need me to be."

She sighed and leaned into the locked door, and shifted so she faced me. "That seems like a rough deal for you. Here I thought I got the short straw."

"How is it a rough deal for me?"

"What if all I want is to be friends?"

I felt some of the hope snap, but kept my expression easy. "Then that's what I'd be to you. My choice is that I want to be in your life no matter what, your choice is how I am, and as what."

She nodded and I hesitated with my question. "Why do you think you get the short straw?"

She hesitated and shrugged. "I don't know. Not because of you, just the whole idea of imprinting. It takes the surprise out of it all. It takes the romance out of it."

"It does not."

"It does too." She argued in a childish voice and laughed. "I mean I think it's magical, but still it's all sort of decided now. Not like the olden days when the guy would court the girl and they'd date and he'd surprise her with a ring, and then their lives were planned out. It feels like a lot was skipped with us."

I leaned over closer to her. I heard her heart beat quicken, and I smiled. I didn't kiss her, I barely even touched her. All I did was move her hair out of her face, and looked at her. Her blush and increase in heart rate proved my point.

"There are still a lot of surprises left, and I have every intention of earning our relationship, and not let the imprint guide it. Understood?"

She smirked at me and surprised me by grabbing a chunk of my t-shirt and yanking me closer to her. "You're not the only one who can make the moves." She said and pecked my lips. "But we should slow things down a bit."

"Fine by me."

"And you should take me home before my parents gather a search group."

I smiled and started the car. "I guess I should." I said and started doing just that. She put on her seat belt and wiped her eyes. I knew she wasn't crying, but tired. It was funny how some things didn't change.

She opened up the mirror on her side, and a few pictures fell out. I had forgotten I kept some there.

"What are these?" She asked and tilted them so I could see.

"A few family shots. I never use that mirror since I'm the only one who drives this car, so I kept them there."

She flipped through them and as I parked outside her house she showed me the one she had been staring at. "What do you have this one for? It isn't a family shot."

I glanced at it and grinned. I hadn't looked at those pictures in a while. "What are you talking about of course it is." I took the picture from her, wondering why it was I'd neglected it for so long. It showed the first Halloween we took seriously. Before then, we had been too young to understand trick or treating. But at four, we knew the deal. Our costumes weren't the norm. We insisted that we wanted to go as one another, me being her and her being me, so naturally that meant a frog and a toad. Me as a frog, and her as a toad. Our mother's thought it was adorable, and the neighbor kids looked at us weird. But we stuck together. "I love this picture."

"There are much better ones of us."

"What are you talking about? This one is perfect. It shows how unique we were and close we were. This picture is pure us." I said and handed it back to her. She looked at me strangely and then put them all away.

"I guess that's true. But that's not what we're dressing up as next year."

I liked the way next year sounded. I got out of the car and opened her door. "And what will we dress up as?"

She stood and smirked at me. "Little red riding hood, and the big bad wolf of course." She started walking towards the door.

"I think you'd look good in red." I said as the porch light suddenly turned on, indicating we weren't alone.

Ripley smiled at the door and shook her head. "I'd better get inside. I'm starting school tomorrow, so I'd better sleep. Will I see you there?"

"I guess I have a reason to go now."

"I guess so." She turned to open the door, and then paused. "Oh and Toad, who said you got to be the big bad wolf?" She winked and went inside.

I chuckled as I got back in the car. I knew there was no guarantee that things would work with her and I, but I knew one thing was for sure. There would never be another girl I'd want.